A list of the 25 most valuable players in world football back in 2007 has re-emerged – and Cristiano Ronaldo is only 18th.
While transfer fees of over £100 million are now commonplace across European football, that sort of fee would have been laughed at 17 years ago.
Ronaldo’s own world-record, £80 million move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 unsurprisingly made headline news across the world at the time, with the Portuguese being one of the two best players on the planet alongside Lionel Messi.
It was expected that transfer fees would steadily rise over time – though whether to the staggering point they are at now is debatable.
In 2007, according to Transfermarkt, the 25th most valuable player in the world was AC Milan‘s Andrea Pirlo, who had a €25 million price tag.
John Terry scraped into the top 20 with a €33 million valuation, one place ahead of the €32m-rated Inter Milan striker Adriano.
Gianluigi Buffon – the only goalkeeper on the list – is next, also at €33 million.
Ronaldo was valued at just €34 million back then, with the 2006/07 campaign being his first prolific goalscoring season when he netted 17 Premier League goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo pictured in action for Man Utd in 2007 (Image: Getty)
Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (15th) was one of a number of players to be valued at €35 million, with Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres one place ahead of him months before his move to Liverpool.
Chelsea’s Didier Drogba placed ahead of the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Wayne Rooney in 10th, with Real Madrid’s Ruud van Nistelrooy – valued at €40.5 million – narrowly missing out on the top five in sixth.
That top five was headlined by Chelsea’s Andriy Shevchenko, who flopped at Stamford Bridge but won the Ballon d’Or in 2005. His £30.8 million move to the Blues in the previous year ensured he maintained value.
Arsenal’s Thierry Henry was in fourth, valued at €50 million, behind Lionel Messi at €60 million.
In second was AC Milan’s Kaka, who was valued at €70 million shortly before his world-record £56 million (€67 million today) move to Real Madrid.
First place went to Barcelona superstar Ronaldinho, who was valued at €80 million. The Brazilian moved to AC Milan in 2008 and his valuation would quickly fall from there, but netted 24 goals in all competitions in 2006/07 as he remained at the top of his powers.
Ronaldinho pictured in action for Barcelona in 2007 (Image: Getty)
The full list is as follows:
Top 25 most valuable players (2007)
- 25. Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan) – €30 million
- 24. Robinho (Real Madrid) – €30.5 million
- 23. Xavi (Barcelona) – €31 million
- 22. Anderson (Manchester United) – €31.5 million
- 21. Adriano (Inter Milan) – €32 million
Adriano pictured in action for Inter Milan in 2007 (Image: Getty)
- 20. John Terry (Chelsea) – €33 million
- 19. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) – €33 million
- 18. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) – €34 million
- 17. David Villa (Valencia) – €35 million
- 16. Michael Ballack (Chelsea) – €35 million
- 15. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) – €35 million
- 14. Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid) – €36 million
- 13. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – €36 million
- 12. Arjen Robben (Chelsea) – €36 million
- 11. Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona) – €38 million
Samuel Eto’o pictured in action for Barcelona in 2007 (Image: Getty)
- 10. Didier Drogba (Chelsea) – €38.5 million
- 9. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) – €38.5 million
- 8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) – €39.75 million
- 7. Francesco Totti (Roma) – €40 million
- 6. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid) – €40.5 million
- 5. Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea) – €46 million
- 4. Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – €50 million
- 3. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – €60 million
Lionel Messi pictured in action for Barcelona in 2007 (Image: Getty)
- 2. Kaka (AC Milan) – €70 million
- 1. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) – €80 million